The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-01-27
A '4o LEDGER.
Drinking Among the Fairly Gold Seekers
of California.

.',&cH. the papers Of the late James
" Mar shall, the discoyerer Of gold in |
Ca'it5ia.a, was found the account book |
ot u Cr"l that carried on business in |
Culoma in - This. as IS well known, is |
the place where gold was discovered.
Ihahoo. is full Of charges OF merchan- |
disc to various persons, and in this
respect i; very much like an ordinary
.iav-buok, but it also served as cash
.too.i and General memorandum of
all kinds ~ transactions. The name OF
the firm was shannon Il Cady.
That the '49ers early began life OF
dissipation is proved by the fact that
ne liquor trade OF the firm exceeded
Il the rest Of their business. There
.:,ra then as many different kinds Of
} iIors as we have to-day. Some of
tunm were in greater demand than
others.
The following is the order in which
they seem to have been preferred, to-
gcthcr with the price per quart bottle:
Ale So; champagne cider, Sc; cham
payne sl2; brandy. Sc; whisky Sc; Ros-
1lio corIialS, 81; Stoughton bitters, Sc;
,in. Sc: c!arct, S. Sillery, Sc; porter
,p.nt bottles, 81; Absinthe was sold, for
which five dollars bottle was charged.
Me. gin, porter and claret we're alum
liant.
The following statement OF the first
laws sales recorded In the old book
will give an idea Of the amount Of
liquor sold by the firm, and also the
general character of the business. OF
course, only credit sales were itemized
in the book, but no doubt the cash sales
were about the same In character.
The amount OF credit sales for the
first day was S2O.50. OF this 1912 was
for liquor, $50 for provisions, So for
vinegar and lemon syrup, and s11. so for
various small articles of hardware.
Fortv-six bottles of ale were sold, two
bottles of champagne cider, and one
bottle of brandy. The ale was much
| more in demand than any other liquor.
| Whisky was either scarce or not popu-
| lar drink.
| Tho first charge made to Marshall is
| Il lot. whisky, &c." which was the frs
| whisky sold. This will cause many :
| one to smile who knows of the weak
ness that afterward blightcd the poor
old mans life. His next purchase wac
| moro creditable to him: $50 lbs. flour,
s25."
| Among the debtors OF the firm the
| name pat Doody" occurs quite often.
| IL was miner, 1or tnere are many
credits for gold dust to his account.
For some time, at decent intervals, he
bought moderate amount OF liqpur,
but suddenly, one Wednesday, the
charges against him for alcoholic re-
'reshments assumed alarming proper
lions.
That day his liquor bill was twenty
dollars; the following day, twenty
three dollars and up to next TUESDAY
or during six days, he spent ninety
nine dollars for liquor. He did no
confine himself to one kind, but bouSil;
about equal proportions Of ale, clarrt
brandy, gin, and whisky, besides tho
drinks. After this there is sugEee
tive absence of the name of Pat Doud.
from the books for several weeks.
Then on two consecutive days there
are two charges to "P. Doody Thy Mrs
d." Women, as everyone knows, were
scarce in the mines then, and this Is IN
only woman named in the book. so
seems that Pat had wife. There cal
be no doubt that this fearful week
spree had prostrated him, and at las